The goal of this study was to explore in greater detail the short- and long-term impacts of catastrophes experienced by developing countries on their poverty rates. The document explained the diversity of channels via which disasters may negatively affect livelihoods. These channels have indeed worked. The results shows that catastrophes have a strong and significant impact on the prevalence of poverty. This influence is nevertheless mitigated as the country reaches relatively higher levels of development or when it benefits from international remittances. The poverty-increasing impact is statistically significant for epidemics, storms and droughts. The impact of droughts on the incidence of poverty, however, is greater in Sub-Saharan Africa than in other regions of the developing world. Remittances have a significant contribution to the reduction of poverty in developing countries. Policies to greater stability of these remittance flows and greater efficiency in the use of resources would accelerate the reduction of poverty and inequality in developing countries. Inequality acts in a direction opposite to that of remittances. They amplify the impact of disasters on the incidence of poverty.
